How I Show My #DisneySide

Last April The Hubs and I took the kidlets for their very first trip to Walt Disney World! We were lucky that my BIL & SIL, who are Disney park veterans, were joining us and helped us navigate not only through booking our trip, but the park and the all-important Disney character meal reservations! My BIL even worked out a whole Fast Pass strategy so we NEVER had to wait on line for the popular rides and any of the parks so we would just walk up to Big Thunder Railroad, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Kilimanjaro Safaris,Peter Pan’s Flight, Kali River Rapids and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, waltz right in and enjoy the ride!

Me & the kidlets after our first day at Magic Kingdom, 10+ hours of fun had them wiped out. Rest assured, they were ready early the next morning to go back!

It was a trip that created a lifetime of magical memories and the chance to experience Disney through the eyes of my kidlets was absolutely priceless. Nearly one year later, our trip to Disney World is still a popular conversation topic in our house. We often reminisce about strolling down Main Street, collecting/trading pins, watching the Electric Parade, riding on Splash Mountain & Tomorrowland Speedway and enjoying the Enchanted Tiki Room and Mickey’s PhilharMagic. Oh, and I cannot forget those delicious Dole Pineapple Whips, which make my mouth water just thinking about them! So I was absolutely thrilled to be selected by Disney Parks and MomSelect to host a #DisneySide @Home Celebration. What a wonderful way to celebrate the fun times and happy memories of our trip by sharing our #DisneySide with our friends! Within days a big box showed up at my front door. It was filled with Disney-themed party supplies including decorations, balloons, cups, plates & napkins, balloons, favors and a few other goodies to help us have a fun and fantastic event!

While we didn’t have a specific theme for our party, all the kids were encouraged to show their #DisneySide by dressing up as their favorite Disney, Marvel Super Hero, Princess or Star Wars character. We had a few Princesses (Elsa & Cinderella), some Super Heroes (Wolverine & The Incredibles) show up at the party. Even the parents at the party got into the act by wearing Disney t-shirts, Mickey ears, Super Hero masks and Tinkerbell tiaras.

My Disney table-scape along with other festive decorations to show our #DisneySide

In addition to the decorations that were in my supply box, I got into the #DisneySide spirit of things and got pretty creative. First I created my own Disney table-scape. All it took was a quick trip up to the kidlet’s bedrooms and playroom to gather up some of their Disney toys, dolls and figures to build a fun, whimsical – and totally free – decoration. Next I broke out some of the animation lithographs we’ve received over the years when we purchased Disney movies on DVD. Most of them already came with paper frames and I was able to hang them easily with double-sided tape. I rounded out the decorations with an inexpensive package of Disney vinyl wall decals. The best part was after the party, I was able to transfer those decals to the kidlet’s playroom to continue showing our #DisneySide!

The kids had fun coloring in t-shirts that featured their favorite Disney characters.

For a party activity I created a sort of mini-animation studio where the kids would create their own customized Disney t-shirts. It was super easy to do. Thanks needs to go out to Hanes who sent a stack of white cotton TAGLESS T-shirts and fabric markers for this craft. The night before the party The Hubs and I searched online for Disney coloring sheets that featured each of the kids favorite Disney characters (we asked their parents in advance so it would be a surprise to each child). We printed those images out on transfer paper and then ironed them onto the shirts. This was a big hit at the party! When it came to food, I kept the menu pretty simple. I served whole-grain Mickey shaped chicken nuggets purchased at Costco, which quickly turned into a chicken nugget eating contest between the boys. Just for the record, my son ate 10 of them! I also made bite-sized Mickey shaped cheese quesadillas using the Mickey Mouse cookie cutters which came in my party supply box. For dessert I totally scored at my local bakery, which happened to have a great variety of Disney themed cupcakes. We had a good mix of Princess, Cars and Frozen (Olaf) ones which were delish! For background entertainment The Hubs created a Disney music playlist culled from our Disney Classics 4 CD Box Set (read my review here). There were times throughout the party when a song would come on and instantly have both parents and kids singing along, dancing or tapping our toes. Each kid left with their own Mickey Mouse goody bag (which was my own little DIY craft project) filled with a Mickey beanbag doll, activity kits, stickers, tattoos, bracelets and other fun Disney stuff. One of my favorite things the kids got was a super sweet Mickey and Minnie “So This Is Love” lithograph. I liked mine so much I framed it and now have it hanging in our house so we can see it everyday.

I made these out of blank gift bags and glued on construction paper in Mickey colors of black, white, red & yellow. I made my pattern cutout for the head by tracing the outside of the Mickey Mouse cookie cutter that was included in my supply kit.

Two moms at the party each went home with a brand new American Tourister bag (FYI, they are the official luggage of Walt Disney World and Disneyland). If you’ve read all the #DisneySide blog posts you know that one piece came with my party supplies, but I was lucky enough to win a second piece of luggage during a Twitter party hosted by MomSelect. I thought I’d share the magic with my mommy friends by giving both bags away!

Never ask a child to smile for a picture, this is what you get! Silly, wacky #DisneySide fun.

Our #DisneySide party was a fun way to spend an afternoon with good friends. Thanks to Disney Parks, MomSelect, American Tourister, HP, Hanes and all the other sponsors who made our #DisneySide party possible. To find out how you can join in and show you own personal #DisneySide, make sure to check out DisneySide.com or DisneySideCelebrations.com.

Now it’s your turn to share. Have you ever been to Disney World or Disneyland? Tell me about your #DisneySide….

For Full Disclosure: The Harried Mom was not compensated for this post, but did receive free products in order to host a #DisneySide @Home Celebration through MomSelect and Disney parks. As always though, the opinions expressed in this post and on The Harried Mom blog are all my very own and are not influenced in any way. Please do your own research before purchasing any products as your opinion may differ.

Comments

Great post & thanks for sharing! I love the “end of the day” picture after MK! Those tired worn out faces only mean they had an incredible time!! And how fun that you won a 2nd suitcase maria recently posted..“A Whole New World” comes to Broadway

I love this. What fun to show your Disney Side, my kids have yet to experience Disney and I only experienced it once as a young teenager. Great post!Brandy at MVL recently posted..Raising a Child Who is Very Simple

Looks like your party was an absolute success. I love the way you decorated the goodie bags. I actually liked everything about the party. My favorite thing about this post is the picture of you and your little ones at Disney World. That’s exactly how my two looked.Katherine G recently posted..Excuses, Excuses, and More Excuses Taking Over My Life

What a fun party!! We had a #DisneySide celebration too, and we had those Mickey Chicken Nuggets. I love the idea of the Mickey shaped cheese quesadillas. I made Mickey PB&J sandwiches with our cookie cutters.Malia recently posted..Bamboo Ring Top Curtains from Curtain & Bath Outlet

Awwww, they definitely look all tuckered out in that first photo! So stinking cute. I’m loving seeing these Disney Side Parties. Looks like yours was a blast!! We’ve never been to Disney. One of these days….one of these days, we might just make it there.Jenni E. recently posted..Tagalongs Peanut Butter S’Mores

Debra did a great job…My daughter and I had such a great time. Like Debra and her family we went to Disney last October and my daughter talks about it almost every day so to be able to go to Debra’s party and have a little Disney in between trips was great! Now the luggage was a bonus…and what a great idea to use the cookie cutter to cut out the cheese quesadillas…I used it the next weekend! Thanks for a great time and looking forward to getting together again soon! Joan

Aww, thanks Joan! I was so happy that the two of you came and had fun. That pix of all the kids having fun in the playroom is awesome and makes me chuckle whenever I look at it! More fun with the kids to come!

Looks like you had a great party! I actually just recently quit my career with Disney World to stay at home with my babies. So I was immersed in its magic DAILY! Living in Orlando and having Annual passes now, we take our kids all the time.Mandy@ TheHouseholdHero.com recently posted..Gender Reveal Party

We’ve taken the kids to Disneyland and Disney World. We had a lot of fun but I’m not big on crowds and waiting in line. Maybe one of these days we can go during off peak times.April recently posted..Orange Chicken

Ah, your kiddos look so wiped in that first pic. I bet it’s a blast, but exhausting! We’re planning a Mickey & Minnie birthday party in December (yes already!). Love the bags you made!Hanan recently posted..10 Things You Should Always Have in Your Diaper Bag

how cute!! I took my kids to Disney for the first time last year – we only went for a day and did a park hopper, but it was MAGICAL! We are going back this year for 4 days, so hopefully we can get to a lot of things we missed.
Looks like you had fun at your #DisneySide party!Krissy recently posted..The Effect that Sugar has on Your Health